Royal Scots Fusiliers

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The Royal Scots Fusiliers

Cap Badge of the Royal Scots Fusiliers
Active 1678 - 1959
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
Type Line Infantry
Part of Lowland Brigade
Garrison/HQ Churchill Barracks, Ayr
Insignia
Tartan MacKenzie Tartan

The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a Regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1678 in Scotland for service against the covenanting forces, as were the Royal Scots Greys, the Regiment gave continuous service until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayshire Regiment). The regular 1st battalions of the two Regiments combining at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh to form the 1st battalion of the new regiment (1 RHF).

The Royal Scots Fusiliers were successively known as: The Earl of Mar's Regiment (or 'Mar's Grey Breeks'), the 21st Regiment of Foot and fought at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

The Royal North British Fusiliers and the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers. The most notable battle honours of the Regiment are: Blenheim, Dettingen, Inkerman, Gheluvelt (1914) and numerous honours from the Boer and First and Second world wars.

Famous officers of the Regiment include: Sir Andrew Agnew (in command at the Battle of Dettingen) Field Marshall Sir Paul Haynes (in command at Inkerman), Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Trenchard (founder of the Royal Air Force), Deneys Reitz one time deputy Prime Minister of South Africa and South African High Commissioner in London, Sir Winston Churchill who commanded the 6th Battalion of the Regiment (Territorial Army) on the Western Front for a few months in 1915 while in disgrace after Gallipoli (his second in command was Sir Archibald Sinclair later Air Minister) and Major General Hakewell Smith, commander of 52 (Lowland) Division in WWII who had been one of Churchill's subalterns.

Two histories of the Regiment have been written:

  1. The History of the Royal Scots Fusiliers 1678-1920 by John Buchan (Lord Tweedsmuir)
  2. The Royal Scots Fusiliers 1920-1959 by Colonel J C Kemp.
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